After I got the money to start playing games again, I immediately gravitated towards the sims 3 even though I stalked the sims 4 forums for a loong time. the reason was that sims 4 is so closed to me. Theres not much to do, and ultimate I hate the drawing style. The sims are a bit too robotic and emotions are strange there. Admitedly I still play sims 2 ultimate edition very often, but ultimately I prefer sims 3 grafics.
I have lurked this thread for a while and have read just about every post (to the point where I'm familiar with some of you here lol). Finally got an account to put in my 2 cents It's a bit long as I've kept these thoughts to myself for a long time, but read on if you want.
I have played both TS3 and TS4, enjoyed both for various reasons. But I do have to say when it comes to gameplay I prefer TS3. I'm currently playing TS3, no longer playing 4 due to some problems with my computer and Origin, so I'll say what I remember about the game.
Since I'm a visual person and an animation fan, I adored TS4 graphics. Every time I launched the game, my first thought was, "I can't wait to take pictures of my Sims today!" And that was pretty much it. I spent most of my time in TS4 making sims in CAS, finding pretty backdrops and pose my sims (with a bunch of CC pose packs) to take pictures. I probably spent way more time posing and taking pictures than actually playing lol. Almost every time I opened the game, I would create a new sim to try out new CC skins, clothes, hair, poses, etc. Once I gave them a house, I would play for maybe a couple of sim days then got bored and move on to a new Sim (except for a few troublemaker sims which I had a great time with), rinse and repeat. It felt like I was using it as a modeling simulator.
That being said, what got me really hooked was the visual aspect. Other than that, I wasn't into the gameplay all that much. For some reason it couldn't keep me enticed for very long. All the career daily tasks were tiring to do. My sims usually came back home tense, so I had to let them relax, shower, eat, etc. By the time they were done, it was time for bed so they had to work on their tasks until nearly exhausted, sleep, then wake up and continue. I also tried to get them into the ideal mood before work and that usually took around 1 sim hour. It was like a constant race against time, and was stressful for them and me. I play a game for fun, not stress lol. That's probably one of the reasons why I didn't like playing for too long, unless I really loved the sim.
The most fun I've ever had in TS4 was when I played an Evil sim in the criminal career. In his free time, he'd sleep around, get together with his gang, get into fights, break things (fulfill career task :P), etc. But when I tried doing regular family play... Couldn't get into it. (Now this was before the toddler patch, never got to try it so would love to one day.)
I had 2 married couples, 1 with 2 kids but then just stopped playing because I got bored and sometimes annoyed. When not in control (like switching to a different household), a spouse would get flirty with random people and develop a bunch of lovebird relationships. If you leave a sim in a committed relationship alone for too long, they are very likely to get flirty with strangers or friends and I couldn't stand it. That's why it's much more fun to play with a promiscuous sim.
Also, this is a minor thing since I learned to live with their mood swings, but the constant change of emotions forced me to force my sim do things out of my will to get rid of unwanted emotions pretty often. Wasted a lot of time there.
Performance-wise, TS4 played very smoothly for me. Kicked me out to the desktop sometimes while in CAS (too many CC probably lol), but other than that, no crashes or lags.
Now, with TS3, it's a slightly different experience.
When starting out, I would make a Sim in CAS (I use CC skins so they're decent to look at), play with them for days (RL time) to skill them up, getting them to the top of their careers, growing very attached to them as a result and then starting a family for them after they've settled with their jobs. I hardly ever get bored (unless I use the same career and lifetime wish multiple times) since there are so many things to do AND I have time to do them. There are no daily tasks to worry about except for the occasional opportunities, so my sims have plenty of time to enjoy life, doing things like collecting, shopping, driving, interacting with family and neighbors, etc. I think my TS3 sims have much more fulfilling lives than my TS4 sims. It's also relaxing to watch and play with them. The most stressful time I've ever had is when there are multiple babies and toddlers to take care of, but once I get a hang of it, it's fun and rewarding. I become emotionally attached to my sims and want them to have a good life, so I'm always motivated to get involved. I always try to avoid bad situations such as cheating because I don't want to see them sad (unless they're evil/flirty sims ). TS3 sims are less prone to cheating, so there's less to worry about. Once a family looks like they're in good shape, I'd make a new single sim, start their life in the same manner, then make their children befriend my other household's children, hoping for the next gen, etc. I have fun with both family play and single sim play in TS3. I get excited when I load the game, thinking about all the things my sims could do.
While I do love TS4 multitasking and want some of that in TS3, I think TS3 multitasking is good enough, and sometimes a pleasant surprise. Recently I set up a playroom for the first time ever (yeah, not really a family player lol), which has: a chess table, an activity table, and a TV, all in close proximity. There are 2 parents and 6 kids, so I sent the toddlers to play at the activity table, children to play chess, and parents to watch TV. They were ALL having fun, chatting, and building relationships at the same time! Needless to say I had a blast and will try to have family sessions more often. I'm no longer afraid to have kids, thanks to this discovery. And that's another thing... There are usually new and unexpected things that you would randomly find out while playing if you pay attention. I first played TS3 in 2010 and never knew toddlers could watch TV until last week, lol.
For performance, I have Overwatch and ErrorTrap to help cleaning things out. I used to get corrupted saves and Error 12 a lot on an older computer, without those mods installed. My laptop specs aren't great so I can't have too many EPs and CCs. When I went past 1.70 GB of CC the game would kick me out constantly. I currently have 6 EPs, 1.66 GB of CCs, and it lags a bit when a save first loads. Average load time is 5-8 minutes, not too bad. That's not the game's fault but mine for not having a gaming laptop, so doesn't really bother me there. Still have plenty of fun once I'm in.
I don't quite agree with the claims that TS3 lots are empty, sims are ugly and emotionless/robotic... Because I don't experience that, and a lot of simmers here in the TS3 section don't either.
Lots like the gym, library, restaurant, grocery store are always busy for me, without mods. I once saw 13 sims at the gym at the same time at night, and all exercising machines were occupied.
As you can see I got quite crowd there lol
To cure the "ugliness" (that's mostly EA not caring about their premades), I use CC skins and hair instead of EA defaults (I do the exact same thing in TS4) so my sims are generally pleasing to look at. Madeover sims with minor tweaks also look nice. I think they display a wide range of facial expressions and behaviors and I love watching and taking pictures of them. Yes, I don't use any CC pose in TS3 for pictures and my sims still look good in candid shots I'm too involved in the gameplay to pose anyway lol. Wish I could post pictures right now but gotta work for a full membership.
I could go on and on but those are the things I wanted to say most. So, I have had good and not so good experiences with both games, but I personally find TS3 gameplay to be more fun and engaging.
I find myself going back to Sims 3 every single time I give Sims 4 another try. I have tried in TS4 to create different stories, build unique houses and generally bring some fun into the game, as I've paid good money for it. Each time I get intensely bored or frustrated with the lag, go back to TS3, am amazed with the open world and customisation and wonder why I left in the first place.
As a builder, I highly enjoy some aspects of TS4 build mode. However, I enjoy fully building whole towns, and even though Newcrest is there, it's highly buggy, not my sort of town and because I only have one expansion (GTW) and no way to fully customise, the only real choices for houses are Victorian or Modern. I sometimes found myself building a house just to realise that it is ending up looking exactly the same as the last 4 houses I've built. I never have this problem with TS3, and I only activate one Expansion pack at a time because my laptop is a potato.
I'm currently building up @Rflong7 's Mayfair Island (Absolutely gorgeous btw, the attention to detail...EA should take some advice from you), and my God do I love TS3 for allowing me to do that. I spent ages even considering the themes of the town, what lots should go where and what stories of the families I wanted. I have started building and customising all the little areas, giving them all their own charm. How in God's name can builders like me do something like that in TS4?
It is because TS2 and TS3 had so much more to offer and then TS4 comes out and they take out so many features that we love and they made it some cheesy game. I own TS4 and I can hardly play it because it is pretty bad. I hate the new interface and I hate the minimalist theme, design about it. Please make TS5 like 2 and 3.
It is because TS2 and TS3 had so much more to offer and then TS4 comes out and they take out so many features that we love and they made it some cheesy game. I own TS4 and I can hardly play it because it is pretty bad. I hate the new interface and I hate the minimalist theme, design about it. Please make TS5 like 2 and 3.
well, as it has plenty of times said, let TS5 = TS2 + TS3, that´s good maths I think!
I can play at last TS2 TS3 and TS4 So great that toddlers are here!!!
Confession time - I've been recently playing Sims 3 again, and enjoying it -- probably enjoying more than when I'd originally gotten it several years ago.
Honestly? I enjoy both Sims 3 and Sims 4 - for different reasons. They are both Sims games but qualitatively different in feel and gameplay, so comparison is not easy. Sometimes I've played both games in the same day.
Right now I'm more "attached" to my Sims in TS4. I love playing rotationally and I have a few saves going where I am rotating around different families, playing from different angles. TS4 is easier for me to get into-- it's easier to start, play, build, and create due to shorter load times, smoother animations, ease of building, and the Gallery. I also love the look and feel of TS4; it may not be as realistic, but it's pretty, and I like pretty.
However, TS3 has a lot more content (being the complete game) as well as more depth of gameplay. And gameplay is very important to me. I'm an analytical person and I like to sink my teeth into things. There is a lot going on in TS3. And that makes it fun. For example I have a writer sim and I can see a list of the books she's written, as well as how much in royalties she's making. Stuff like that, which is missing in TS4.
There are a lot of things I miss from TS3 when I'm playing TS4, and vice versa.
So the best of both worlds is to play both worlds. Why not?
One of the biggest issues for Sims 4 is that unlike Sims 3 there is no story progression. Unless the base game sims are married or have children, then you pretty much are stuck with either single sims or childless couples. Then this leads to a world where everyone eventually dies out and the only alive sims are your family members, unless you import more sims manually.
The fact that many of us have to resort to a mod, to get the story progression is a big oversight on the part of the game makers.
While I do like playing Sims 4 with the upgraded graphics etc, personally for me Sims 3 wins just on the bases that the game feels more alive.
One of the biggest issues for Sims 4 is that unlike Sims 3 there is no story progression. Unless the base game sims are married or have children, then you pretty much are stuck with either single sims or childless couples. Then this leads to a world where everyone eventually dies out and the only alive sims are your family members, unless you import more sims manually.
The fact that many of us have to resort to a mod, to get the story progression is a big oversight on the part of the game makers.
While I do like playing Sims 4 with the upgraded graphics etc, personally for me Sims 3 wins just on the bases that the game feels more alive.
There is no story progression in my Sims 3 game, there hasn't been for about five years now. No babies are born, nobody marries, nobody gets promoted in their jobs. When I play several generations in one save, my town dies out as well. Babies used to be born in the beginning (not enough to populate a new generation though), but I suspect they changed that in a patch because people didn't like it, spontaneous births beyond their control. I regret that. I'd really really really want an advanced SP system in this franchise. Sims 3 had it sort of, in Sims 4 it indeed is completely gone.
One of the biggest issues for Sims 4 is that unlike Sims 3 there is no story progression. Unless the base game sims are married or have children, then you pretty much are stuck with either single sims or childless couples. Then this leads to a world where everyone eventually dies out and the only alive sims are your family members, unless you import more sims manually.
The fact that many of us have to resort to a mod, to get the story progression is a big oversight on the part of the game makers.
While I do like playing Sims 4 with the upgraded graphics etc, personally for me Sims 3 wins just on the bases that the game feels more alive.
There is no story progression in my Sims 3 game, there hasn't been for about five years now. No babies are born, nobody marries, nobody gets promoted in their jobs. When I play several generations in one save, my town dies out as well. Babies used to be born in the beginning (not enough to populate a new generation though), but I suspect they changed that in a patch because people didn't like it, spontaneous births beyond their control. I regret that. I'd really really really want an advanced SP system in this franchise. Sims 3 had it sort of, in Sims 4 it indeed is completely gone.
So in the newspaper in Ts3 when it says "The x family welcomed baby boy" into their home last night, blah blah blah" is that not an actual baby being born? I'm confused.
I can't say I've noticed it in the sims 3 as my generations find plenty of friends and the town never feels empty of too familiar. In the sims 4 by generation 3 I can have a ghost town. Then I got mc command which solved it, can't play without it as the game is boring otherwise.
Like others have said, there are certain aspects to both games that appeal to me. I love the emotions, multitasking, gardening, party life and above all, the different walk styles that TS4 has to offer. Though a lot of people complain about children in TS4, I much prefer them to TS3 kids because it seems like they're always on the move, always hyper and just generally adorable. That said, when it comes to YA, adults, I love TS3 sims simply because there is so much for them to do, places to go, things to explore and in romantic interactions, TS3 knocks TS4 out of the way.
I'm lucky to not have much of an issue with empty lots in TS3, my venues are usually hopping within a few minutes of arriving so it's fun watching my sims interact with others even though sometimes I have to force them to do so. But I still end up missing my far more social sims in TS4 who within seconds of arriving at a venue, are off chatting merrily and doing tasks on their own.
In a nutshell, I love both games and can easily waste days getting immersed in either of them. I understand TS4 is lacking in some aspects, but I can see the devs are starting to put out content that could really make the game more fun.
One of the biggest issues for Sims 4 is that unlike Sims 3 there is no story progression. Unless the base game sims are married or have children, then you pretty much are stuck with either single sims or childless couples. Then this leads to a world where everyone eventually dies out and the only alive sims are your family members, unless you import more sims manually.
The fact that many of us have to resort to a mod, to get the story progression is a big oversight on the part of the game makers.
While I do like playing Sims 4 with the upgraded graphics etc, personally for me Sims 3 wins just on the bases that the game feels more alive.
There is no story progression in my Sims 3 game, there hasn't been for about five years now. No babies are born, nobody marries, nobody gets promoted in their jobs. When I play several generations in one save, my town dies out as well. Babies used to be born in the beginning (not enough to populate a new generation though), but I suspect they changed that in a patch because people didn't like it, spontaneous births beyond their control. I regret that. I'd really really really want an advanced SP system in this franchise. Sims 3 had it sort of, in Sims 4 it indeed is completely gone.
So in the newspaper in Ts3 when it says "The x family welcomed baby boy" into their home last night, blah blah blah" is that not an actual baby being born? I'm confused.
I can't say I've noticed it in the sims 3 as my generations find plenty of friends and the town never feels empty of too familiar. In the sims 4 by generation 3 I can have a ghost town. Then I got mc command which solved it, can't play without it as the game is boring otherwise.
It never says that in my newspapers, unless I have played some part in setting up that baby myself (my sims hardly ever read the newspapers by the way, but I'd say that if the newspaper says that it's true)
One of the biggest issues for Sims 4 is that unlike Sims 3 there is no story progression. Unless the base game sims are married or have children, then you pretty much are stuck with either single sims or childless couples. Then this leads to a world where everyone eventually dies out and the only alive sims are your family members, unless you import more sims manually.
The fact that many of us have to resort to a mod, to get the story progression is a big oversight on the part of the game makers.
While I do like playing Sims 4 with the upgraded graphics etc, personally for me Sims 3 wins just on the bases that the game feels more alive.
There is no story progression in my Sims 3 game, there hasn't been for about five years now. No babies are born, nobody marries, nobody gets promoted in their jobs. When I play several generations in one save, my town dies out as well. Babies used to be born in the beginning (not enough to populate a new generation though), but I suspect they changed that in a patch because people didn't like it, spontaneous births beyond their control. I regret that. I'd really really really want an advanced SP system in this franchise. Sims 3 had it sort of, in Sims 4 it indeed is completely gone.
So in the newspaper in Ts3 when it says "The x family welcomed baby boy" into their home last night, blah blah blah" is that not an actual baby being born? I'm confused.
I can't say I've noticed it in the sims 3 as my generations find plenty of friends and the town never feels empty of too familiar. In the sims 4 by generation 3 I can have a ghost town. Then I got mc command which solved it, can't play without it as the game is boring otherwise.
So far I know, it only happens when there's an actual baby born. Which happens with Nraas SP (so a lot in my game, can recommend it but be careful your system can handle it, my game is remarkably slower since I have SP) or with scripted pregnancies at the beginning of a new game, due to premades already made pregnant by EA, like it is the case with the Keatons.
@JoAnne65@GITTE2001
I have noticed it a few times. Not regularly but occasionally. My sims don't read the newspaper that much. Noticed it a lot in my first generation before my sim could afford entertainment and if they were too tired to go out lol
I do understand that some people prefer the graphics style of TS4, but after fully stalking the TS3 section's "I still love scenery" thread yesterday and being totally blown away, I just can't enjoy TS4 graphics without trying to understand I'm in the cartoon network channel. Some of the screenshots in that thread look like photos, and they've only used one lighting mod and high settings graphics. For a game that came out nearly 8 years ago now, it's beyond amazing.
@JoAnne65@GITTE2001
I have noticed it a few times. Not regularly but occasionally. My sims don't read the newspaper that much. Noticed it a lot in my first generation before my sim could afford entertainment and if they were too tired to go out lol
Mods I have are Overwatch and Errortrap.
The last time a baby was born outside my control, was in my 11th generation, halfway 2011. I must add that heir 12 moved to Hidden Springs, a Store world, and I've always wondered if that might have had something to do with it. I've never played in EP worlds after that, untill I played a homeless sim in Bridgeport. No spontaneous babies there either, but the reason for that may have been that he himself made sure babies were born. Maybe the game has some sort of a quota?
I do understand that some people prefer the graphics style of TS4, but after fully stalking the TS3 section's "I still love scenery" thread yesterday and being totally blown away, I just can't enjoy TS4 graphics without trying to understand I'm in the cartoon network channel. Some of the screenshots in that thread look like photos, and they've only used one lighting mod and high settings graphics. For a game that came out nearly 8 years ago now, it's beyond amazing.
I love both games. At times I go back and forth on which one I prefer, but when it comes down to it I would pick 4. I try not to use CC or Mods, and even with the create a style, I am not a fan of the cas items in 3. If I add mods to 3, it becomes laggy. I do not need cc in 4. I also really enjoy the cartoony graphics, and the animations. Although, I do think that 3 has better graphics when it comes to the environment, 4 is just a better game overall.
I do understand that some people prefer the graphics style of TS4, but after fully stalking the TS3 section's "I still love scenery" thread yesterday and being totally blown away, I just can't enjoy TS4 graphics without trying to understand I'm in the cartoon network channel. Some of the screenshots in that thread look like photos, and they've only used one lighting mod and high settings graphics. For a game that came out nearly 8 years ago now, it's beyond amazing.
Like take a look through that thread and tell me that TS4 graphics are objectively better.
You can take nice "scenery" pics in TS4 too. The problem with that is that you're basically taking a pictures of the same backgrounds over and over again. With CAW and the countless worlds made by TS3 players, we will never have that kind of problem.
One of the biggest issues for Sims 4 is that unlike Sims 3 there is no story progression. Unless the base game sims are married or have children, then you pretty much are stuck with either single sims or childless couples. Then this leads to a world where everyone eventually dies out and the only alive sims are your family members, unless you import more sims manually.
The fact that many of us have to resort to a mod, to get the story progression is a big oversight on the part of the game makers.
While I do like playing Sims 4 with the upgraded graphics etc, personally for me Sims 3 wins just on the bases that the game feels more alive.
There is no story progression in my Sims 3 game, there hasn't been for about five years now. No babies are born, nobody marries, nobody gets promoted in their jobs. When I play several generations in one save, my town dies out as well. Babies used to be born in the beginning (not enough to populate a new generation though), but I suspect they changed that in a patch because people didn't like it, spontaneous births beyond their control. I regret that. I'd really really really want an advanced SP system in this franchise. Sims 3 had it sort of, in Sims 4 it indeed is completely gone.
I fully agree with that there's no story progression in TS3 at all. I enjoyed the story progression in TS3 as long as it lasted, but I don't think it was changed in a patch, it just became weaker the more expansion packs came out. One day, when I wanted to test something and disabled every ep that came out after Ambitions, as soon as I started the game, there moved new families almost every day. But as soon as I enabled more expansion packs, the less story progression was noticeable. If you want to have story progression in your game, you could use the NRaas mod for it.
However, I don't mind the lack of story progression in TS4 at all. I am a player who plays with aging off, and since the release of the game, my sims only aged once, so it isn't that noticeable in my game (yet). And if story progression should become too important for me that I miss it, I just use the MCCC, not a big problem.
One of the biggest issues for Sims 4 is that unlike Sims 3 there is no story progression. Unless the base game sims are married or have children, then you pretty much are stuck with either single sims or childless couples. Then this leads to a world where everyone eventually dies out and the only alive sims are your family members, unless you import more sims manually.
The fact that many of us have to resort to a mod, to get the story progression is a big oversight on the part of the game makers.
While I do like playing Sims 4 with the upgraded graphics etc, personally for me Sims 3 wins just on the bases that the game feels more alive.
There is no story progression in my Sims 3 game, there hasn't been for about five years now. No babies are born, nobody marries, nobody gets promoted in their jobs. When I play several generations in one save, my town dies out as well. Babies used to be born in the beginning (not enough to populate a new generation though), but I suspect they changed that in a patch because people didn't like it, spontaneous births beyond their control. I regret that. I'd really really really want an advanced SP system in this franchise. Sims 3 had it sort of, in Sims 4 it indeed is completely gone.
I fully agree with that there's no story progression in TS3 at all. I enjoyed the story progression in TS3 as long as it lasted, but I don't think it was changed in a patch, it just became weaker the more expansion packs came out. One day, when I wanted to test something and disabled every ep that came out after Ambitions, as soon as I started the game, there moved new families almost every day. But as soon as I enabled more expansion packs, the less story progression was noticeable. If you want to have story progression in your game, you could use the NRaas mod for it.
However, I don't mind the lack of story progression in TS4 at all. I am a player who plays with aging off, and since the release of the game, my sims only aged once, so it isn't that noticeable in my game (yet). And if story progression should become too important for me that I miss it, I just use the MCCC, not a big problem.
I'd love all the great things I hear about NRaas SP, but I doubt I mind enough to take the risk of the game becoming very slow or borky. At the end of the day we all choose what is important to us in thise game, and how far we'll go to get it. I've always played the game vanilla, I fell in love with the game vanilla and I also like, in a very odd way, to find work arounds. I watched a kid today on YouTube who created a waterslide for Sims 2. And people underneath that video were sort of moaning "I don't see you using it". But he clearly was very happy with what he had created and I think he had more fun than a whole lot of players who put a ready to go waterslide in the garden and tell their sims to use it by clicking.
I find myself going back to Sims 3 every single time I give Sims 4 another try. I have tried in TS4 to create different stories, build unique houses and generally bring some fun into the game, as I've paid good money for it. Each time I get intensely bored or frustrated with the lag, go back to TS3, am amazed with the open world and customisation and wonder why I left in the first place.
As a builder, I highly enjoy some aspects of TS4 build mode. However, I enjoy fully building whole towns, and even though Newcrest is there, it's highly buggy, not my sort of town and because I only have one expansion (GTW) and no way to fully customise, the only real choices for houses are Victorian or Modern. I sometimes found myself building a house just to realise that it is ending up looking exactly the same as the last 4 houses I've built. I never have this problem with TS3, and I only activate one Expansion pack at a time because my laptop is a potato.
I'm currently building up @Rflong7 's Mayfair Island (Absolutely gorgeous btw, the attention to detail...EA should take some advice from you), and my God do I love TS3 for allowing me to do that. I spent ages even considering the themes of the town, what lots should go where and what stories of the families I wanted. I have started building and customising all the little areas, giving them all their own charm. How in God's name can builders like me do something like that in TS4?
Building in TS4 is sooo easy I'm actually getting really lazy cause when I make my houses I'm like ok let's just pop in that pre-made room instead of dragging out the walls myself. I mean you can do that if you really want to but I'm like why bother? Only thing I don't like about building is that I have to manually add in the hallways when making my houses and after popping together everything else it's made me a little impatient and lazy to manually put in the hallways. I figured out how to add a basement but how do you get steps up to it? I tried and tried to get a front step up to my door I placed but I couldn't get them to orient to the door they kept wanting to backwards into a pile of steps and I only needed one little one.
They listened and gave us toddlers! Thanks Devs your work is appreciated.
You can take nice "scenery" pics in TS4 too. The problem with that is that you're basically taking a pictures of the same backgrounds over and over again. With CAW and the countless worlds made by TS3 players, we will never have that kind of problem.
I hate the backgrounds in TS4 because 70% of it is fake decoration that you can't get to. That beautiful house on the hill in TS3? Oh you can go there! And the people that live there are townies with stories, not randomly generated people who just fill up houses because you've moved in. Oh the beach at the bottom of Sunset Valley? You can go there too! Want to swim in that water at the beach? Go for it!
Cartoon graphics are one thing, awful block textures and 90% of what is around you being fake is another.
Building in TS4 is sooo easy I'm actually getting really lazy cause when I make my houses I'm like ok let's just pop in that pre-made room instead of dragging out the walls myself. I mean you can do that if you really want to but I'm like why bother? Only thing I don't like about building is that I have to manually add in the hallways when making my houses and after popping together everything else it's made me a little impatient and lazy to manually put in the hallways. I figured out how to add a basement but how do you get steps up to it? I tried and tried to get a front step up to my door I placed but I couldn't get them to orient to the door they kept wanting to backwards into a pile of steps and I only needed one little one.
I just find that because I only have one expansion, everything either has to look the same or nothing matches. Don't get me wrong, I really really like some aspects of TS4 build mode, and you are very right in that some aspects are A LOT easier, like I love being able to move the whole lot and take the roof off of basements, but the lack of customisation makes it really boring once you've built a few houses. There are a lot of bugs in build mode though too, one of which has been there since the start of the game and they still haven't fixed it.
Comments
I have played both TS3 and TS4, enjoyed both for various reasons. But I do have to say when it comes to gameplay I prefer TS3. I'm currently playing TS3, no longer playing 4 due to some problems with my computer and Origin, so I'll say what I remember about the game.
Since I'm a visual person and an animation fan, I adored TS4 graphics. Every time I launched the game, my first thought was, "I can't wait to take pictures of my Sims today!" And that was pretty much it. I spent most of my time in TS4 making sims in CAS, finding pretty backdrops and pose my sims (with a bunch of CC pose packs) to take pictures. I probably spent way more time posing and taking pictures than actually playing lol. Almost every time I opened the game, I would create a new sim to try out new CC skins, clothes, hair, poses, etc. Once I gave them a house, I would play for maybe a couple of sim days then got bored and move on to a new Sim (except for a few troublemaker sims which I had a great time with), rinse and repeat. It felt like I was using it as a modeling simulator.
That being said, what got me really hooked was the visual aspect. Other than that, I wasn't into the gameplay all that much. For some reason it couldn't keep me enticed for very long. All the career daily tasks were tiring to do. My sims usually came back home tense, so I had to let them relax, shower, eat, etc. By the time they were done, it was time for bed so they had to work on their tasks until nearly exhausted, sleep, then wake up and continue. I also tried to get them into the ideal mood before work and that usually took around 1 sim hour. It was like a constant race against time, and was stressful for them and me. I play a game for fun, not stress lol. That's probably one of the reasons why I didn't like playing for too long, unless I really loved the sim.
The most fun I've ever had in TS4 was when I played an Evil sim in the criminal career. In his free time, he'd sleep around, get together with his gang, get into fights, break things (fulfill career task :P), etc. But when I tried doing regular family play... Couldn't get into it. (Now this was before the toddler patch, never got to try it so would love to one day.)
I had 2 married couples, 1 with 2 kids but then just stopped playing because I got bored and sometimes annoyed. When not in control (like switching to a different household), a spouse would get flirty with random people and develop a bunch of lovebird relationships. If you leave a sim in a committed relationship alone for too long, they are very likely to get flirty with strangers or friends and I couldn't stand it. That's why it's much more fun to play with a promiscuous sim.
Also, this is a minor thing since I learned to live with their mood swings, but the constant change of emotions forced me to force my sim do things out of my will to get rid of unwanted emotions pretty often. Wasted a lot of time there.
Performance-wise, TS4 played very smoothly for me. Kicked me out to the desktop sometimes while in CAS (too many CC probably lol), but other than that, no crashes or lags.
Now, with TS3, it's a slightly different experience.
When starting out, I would make a Sim in CAS (I use CC skins so they're decent to look at), play with them for days (RL time) to skill them up, getting them to the top of their careers, growing very attached to them as a result and then starting a family for them after they've settled with their jobs. I hardly ever get bored (unless I use the same career and lifetime wish multiple times) since there are so many things to do AND I have time to do them. There are no daily tasks to worry about except for the occasional opportunities, so my sims have plenty of time to enjoy life, doing things like collecting, shopping, driving, interacting with family and neighbors, etc. I think my TS3 sims have much more fulfilling lives than my TS4 sims. It's also relaxing to watch and play with them. The most stressful time I've ever had is when there are multiple babies and toddlers to take care of, but once I get a hang of it, it's fun and rewarding. I become emotionally attached to my sims and want them to have a good life, so I'm always motivated to get involved. I always try to avoid bad situations such as cheating because I don't want to see them sad (unless they're evil/flirty sims
While I do love TS4 multitasking and want some of that in TS3, I think TS3 multitasking is good enough, and sometimes a pleasant surprise. Recently I set up a playroom for the first time ever (yeah, not really a family player lol), which has: a chess table, an activity table, and a TV, all in close proximity. There are 2 parents and 6 kids, so I sent the toddlers to play at the activity table, children to play chess, and parents to watch TV. They were ALL having fun, chatting, and building relationships at the same time! Needless to say I had a blast and will try to have family sessions more often. I'm no longer afraid to have kids, thanks to this discovery. And that's another thing... There are usually new and unexpected things that you would randomly find out while playing if you pay attention. I first played TS3 in 2010 and never knew toddlers could watch TV until last week, lol.
For performance, I have Overwatch and ErrorTrap to help cleaning things out. I used to get corrupted saves and Error 12 a lot on an older computer, without those mods installed. My laptop specs aren't great so I can't have too many EPs and CCs. When I went past 1.70 GB of CC the game would kick me out constantly. I currently have 6 EPs, 1.66 GB of CCs, and it lags a bit when a save first loads. Average load time is 5-8 minutes, not too bad. That's not the game's fault but mine for not having a gaming laptop, so doesn't really bother me there. Still have plenty of fun once I'm in.
I don't quite agree with the claims that TS3 lots are empty, sims are ugly and emotionless/robotic... Because I don't experience that, and a lot of simmers here in the TS3 section don't either.
Lots like the gym, library, restaurant, grocery store are always busy for me, without mods. I once saw 13 sims at the gym at the same time at night, and all exercising machines were occupied.
As you can see I got quite crowd there lol
I could go on and on but those are the things I wanted to say most. So, I have had good and not so good experiences with both games, but I personally find TS3 gameplay to be more fun and engaging.
*Edited for gym picture.
As a builder, I highly enjoy some aspects of TS4 build mode. However, I enjoy fully building whole towns, and even though Newcrest is there, it's highly buggy, not my sort of town and because I only have one expansion (GTW) and no way to fully customise, the only real choices for houses are Victorian or Modern. I sometimes found myself building a house just to realise that it is ending up looking exactly the same as the last 4 houses I've built. I never have this problem with TS3, and I only activate one Expansion pack at a time because my laptop is a potato.
I'm currently building up @Rflong7 's Mayfair Island (Absolutely gorgeous btw, the attention to detail...EA should take some advice from you), and my God do I love TS3 for allowing me to do that. I spent ages even considering the themes of the town, what lots should go where and what stories of the families I wanted. I have started building and customising all the little areas, giving them all their own charm. How in God's name can builders like me do something like that in TS4?
well, as it has plenty of times said, let TS5 = TS2 + TS3, that´s good maths I think!
I can play at last TS2 TS3 and TS4 So great that toddlers are here!!!
Honestly? I enjoy both Sims 3 and Sims 4 - for different reasons. They are both Sims games but qualitatively different in feel and gameplay, so comparison is not easy. Sometimes I've played both games in the same day.
Right now I'm more "attached" to my Sims in TS4. I love playing rotationally and I have a few saves going where I am rotating around different families, playing from different angles. TS4 is easier for me to get into-- it's easier to start, play, build, and create due to shorter load times, smoother animations, ease of building, and the Gallery. I also love the look and feel of TS4; it may not be as realistic, but it's pretty, and I like pretty.
However, TS3 has a lot more content (being the complete game) as well as more depth of gameplay. And gameplay is very important to me. I'm an analytical person and I like to sink my teeth into things. There is a lot going on in TS3. And that makes it fun. For example I have a writer sim and I can see a list of the books she's written, as well as how much in royalties she's making. Stuff like that, which is missing in TS4.
There are a lot of things I miss from TS3 when I'm playing TS4, and vice versa.
So the best of both worlds is to play both worlds. Why not?
Sim Stuff by Pegasys
The fact that many of us have to resort to a mod, to get the story progression is a big oversight on the part of the game makers.
While I do like playing Sims 4 with the upgraded graphics etc, personally for me Sims 3 wins just on the bases that the game feels more alive.
So in the newspaper in Ts3 when it says "The x family welcomed baby boy" into their home last night, blah blah blah" is that not an actual baby being born? I'm confused.
I can't say I've noticed it in the sims 3 as my generations find plenty of friends and the town never feels empty of too familiar. In the sims 4 by generation 3 I can have a ghost town. Then I got mc command which solved it, can't play without it as the game is boring otherwise.
I'm lucky to not have much of an issue with empty lots in TS3, my venues are usually hopping within a few minutes of arriving so it's fun watching my sims interact with others even though sometimes I have to force them to do so. But I still end up missing my far more social sims in TS4 who within seconds of arriving at a venue, are off chatting merrily and doing tasks on their own.
In a nutshell, I love both games and can easily waste days getting immersed in either of them. I understand TS4 is lacking in some aspects, but I can see the devs are starting to put out content that could really make the game more fun.
So far I know, it only happens when there's an actual baby born. Which happens with Nraas SP (so a lot in my game, can recommend it but be careful your system can handle it, my game is remarkably slower since I have SP) or with scripted pregnancies at the beginning of a new game, due to premades already made pregnant by EA, like it is the case with the Keatons.
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I have noticed it a few times. Not regularly but occasionally. My sims don't read the newspaper that much. Noticed it a lot in my first generation before my sim could afford entertainment and if they were too tired to go out lol
Mods I have are Overwatch and Errortrap.
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/802147/i-still-love-scenery#latest
Like take a look through that thread and tell me that TS4 graphics are objectively better.
I totally agree with everything you just said...
I love looking in that thread at all of the beautiful screenshots of the players gameplay...
http://store.thesims3.com/myWishlist.html?persona=lisasc360
My stories on this site:
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/991317/my-sims-stories/p1?new=1
You can take nice "scenery" pics in TS4 too. The problem with that is that you're basically taking a pictures of the same backgrounds over and over again. With CAW and the countless worlds made by TS3 players, we will never have that kind of problem.
I fully agree with that there's no story progression in TS3 at all. I enjoyed the story progression in TS3 as long as it lasted, but I don't think it was changed in a patch, it just became weaker the more expansion packs came out. One day, when I wanted to test something and disabled every ep that came out after Ambitions, as soon as I started the game, there moved new families almost every day. But as soon as I enabled more expansion packs, the less story progression was noticeable. If you want to have story progression in your game, you could use the NRaas mod for it.
However, I don't mind the lack of story progression in TS4 at all. I am a player who plays with aging off, and since the release of the game, my sims only aged once, so it isn't that noticeable in my game (yet). And if story progression should become too important for me that I miss it, I just use the MCCC, not a big problem.
I like to build stuff
Building in TS4 is sooo easy I'm actually getting really lazy cause when I make my houses I'm like ok let's just pop in that pre-made room instead of dragging out the walls myself. I mean you can do that if you really want to but I'm like why bother? Only thing I don't like about building is that I have to manually add in the hallways when making my houses and after popping together everything else it's made me a little impatient and lazy to manually put in the hallways. I figured out how to add a basement but how do you get steps up to it? I tried and tried to get a front step up to my door I placed but I couldn't get them to orient to the door they kept wanting to backwards into a pile of steps and I only needed one little one.
I hate the backgrounds in TS4 because 70% of it is fake decoration that you can't get to. That beautiful house on the hill in TS3? Oh you can go there! And the people that live there are townies with stories, not randomly generated people who just fill up houses because you've moved in. Oh the beach at the bottom of Sunset Valley? You can go there too! Want to swim in that water at the beach? Go for it!
Cartoon graphics are one thing, awful block textures and 90% of what is around you being fake is another.
I just find that because I only have one expansion, everything either has to look the same or nothing matches.